Masked Heart
by I Embraced My Darkness
Summary: Years after the series, trouble starts when a few Arrancar show up. But the trouble isn't from them. It centers around Yuki Hakumisu's adopted brother. Kyoji Kurohane Must deal with the Hollow within, but will the things it did while in control break him?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: this story is written on the assumtion that all Shinigami survive the 'Espada Showdown over Karaura City' and anything beyond it. Promotions and Side-character additions are mostly done by logic, plus a couple of my faves get bumped up...

This will also be the tamest of my Fics. It will get bloody and certain characters swear alot, but nothing more.

1

Yuki Hakumisu walked up to her friend and vice-captain, Rangiku Mastumoto, embarassed about what she wanted to ask. "Um," the ice-blue eyed girl started, "Vice Captain?"

"Ah! Yuki-chan!" The orange haired woman was already drunk, "I never see you here at the bar."

"That's because I can't hold my liquor," Yuki pulled at her shihakushou with her pale-skinned hands, "one small bottle of sake and you can get me to do anything."

"Really?" Rangiku leaned forward, right into the smaller girl's face; Yuki could taste the alcohol on her breath. "But you're such a good girl! not like me, I'm a total tease!" She laughed slightly at her own comments. "What brings you here?"

Yuki blushed, "I wanted to ask a favor."

"Of course! Squadmates gotta help each other!"

"Can you teach me to be sexy?"

"Eh?" Matsumoto was sure that the sweetheart of Squad 10 hadn't just said that, it must be the alcohol playing tricks.

Yuki felt very self-concious, worried that if anyone had heard her they'd judge her for it. She repeated quieter this time, "will you teach me to be sexy... like you?"

"Yuki," Matsumoto teased the teenaged Fourth Officer, "have you found a guy you like? that's so cute!"

Yuki cupped her hand over Rangiku's mouth, "Shhh! i don't want everybody to know!"

Rangiku pulled off Yuki's hand and ruffled the girl's short white hair. "Honey, you're plenty pretty."

"No, I'm not," Yuki looked at her feet. "I over heard a bunch of guys the other night talking about who are the hottest Shinigami. You, Captain Soifon, Vice-Captain Kurotsuchi and Captain Unohana were all discussed quite avidly. I wasn't even mentioned."

Seeing the meloncholic expression on her friend's face, Matsumoto sighed and reached into the inner-breast pocket of her shihakushou. she pulled out a small capsule, opening it, she revealed a red powder. she shook a small amount into the cap, and poured a few drops of sake into the cap. Mixing it with her finger, she gently grasped Yuki's chin with her other hand and applied the paste to Yuki's lips. "press your lips together."

Yuki did as she was told and tasted the mixed flavor of sake and berries.

"Now pucker for me sweetie."

Yuki puckered her lips, and was suprised when her Vice-Captain pressed her lips against them. "Vice-Captain!" She pulled back and tripped over the table behind her.

Matsumoto giggled and winked teasingly as she tossed the capsule to Yuki. "Sorry Yuki-chan! like I said, you're plenty cute. But as to your boy problem, a little rouge goes a long way sometimes." She lifted the girl to her feet, "I'm not like THAT, don't worry... Sake makes me a crazy girl!... wanna drink?"


	2. Chapter 2

2

Yuki pulled her sheath from her hip and slammed her Zanpakutou into it. She began flicking her wrist with her fingers loosely closed, causing it to roll in her hand. "SCREAM TO THE PALE MOON! TENROU!"

Yuki grabbed the hilt and unsheathed the blade, an etheral wolf leapt forth, landing in front of her, the ground freezing where its feet touched, the blade itself looking like a piece of ice.

"GROWL!" Rangiku yelled as she released her blade as well, "HEINEKO!"

Yuki and the wolf moved in unison as they rushed their opponent. Right before they were engulfed by the ashes, she pointed the ice sword, "Howling Blizzard!" The wolf howled, and ice came spewing from its maw like dragonfire, freezing all that it touched. Aiming for the frozen ash in front of her, Yuki brought her hands together, "Hadou 31! Red Flame Cannon!"

Matsumoto actually had to Flashstep to avoid the attack as a blade of ice suddenly emerged from the chaos in front of her.

"Hadou 4! White Lightning!" Yuki's nickname of the Bloodwinged Angel had been well earned because of her intensity in battle. Even in a sparring match, she'd try to draw blood, but today was beyond that, something was wrong.

Rangiku held up her hand after dodging the spell. Yuki had to take a painful spill to avoid impailing her friend. She got up to her feet as the wolf stepped up to her to check on her, she scratched it behind the ears before turning to her sparring partner, "what's wrong?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Rangiku sheathed her sword after the ashes returned to blade form.

"It's nothing," Yuki sighed as the wolf dissapeared and she but the sword back in the sheath and put it on her hip.

"Yuki-chan..."

"Remember about the boy i liked?"

"Oh, honey, did he reject you?" Matsumoto never had that problem, she was normally beating guys off her with a stick; unless she was drunk, in which case she'd usually just beat them off.

"No," Yuki's embarassment was palpible, "it was worse..."

"Worse? how could it be worse?"

"hesgayandididntevennotice," she mumbled it so quick that you couldn't even separate the syllables.

"aaaaah... what?"

"He's gay and i didn't even notice... I went to the 12th squad barracks when his shift ended, and I saw him meet up with a boy and they kissed."

"12th?... you mean Rin and Hanatarou from the 4th squad?"

"Yeah, Rin."

"How could you NOT notice they are gay? they make better girls than alot of the girls in our squad!" As soon as she said it, Rangiku wished she hadn't.

Yuki's face went from embarassment to crying in the blink of an eye. "Yeah, I'm stupid, I know."

"No, Yuki, I-"

"Don't even bother Vice-Captain," Yuki turned away, "you can't make me smarter. I'm already stupid enough to chase after gay guys!" Yuki ran off crying. She apologized without even looking to see who she ran into as she continued running.

"Matsumoto!" Captain Toushiro Hitsuguya angrily started as he picked himself up off the ground, "what did you do this time?"


	3. Chapter 3

3

"Yuki!"

Yuki stopped when she heard the voice of her long time friend Kyoji Kurohane. They had grown up together as brother and sister in the Rukongai, after his original surrogate family died in the hollow attack that later became known as the 'masked cover-up'. They had both started out in the 13th Squad; but after the betrayal of Aizen, the amount of deaths caused by the Bounts and several other incidents since then, they'd been shuffled around the 13 Royal Protection Squads to make up for the inequities in manpower. She turned as Kyoji bid farewell to his new Captain, Renji Abarai, before he came running up to her. "Hey onii-chan."

Right away, Kyoji knew something was very wrong, Yuki only called him 'big brother' when she was distraught. "What happened?"

"Gay boys and a mean Vice-Captain. how are you?"

Kyoji blinked his red eyes, "What?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it. So... 9th Squad now?"

"Yeah, they figured that a squad with a new captain could use a few new officers or something." His long black hair shifted as he shrugged

"So?"

"3rd Officer."

"Finally some good news!" Yuki smiled as she thought, "Ky-Ky has been promoted!"

"You're 4th in 10, now... right?"

"Yes, 4th Officer of the 10th Squadron.

"I know, the 'Sweetheart of the 13th' is now the 'Sweetheart of the 10th'. Word travels about pretty girls like you."

"Stop it Ky-Ky, I'm not pretty."

"Bullshit!"

Kyoji had always been straight-forward, but not quite like that. It caused Yuki to pause in her self-pity, "Ky-Ky?"

"You're a beautiful girl Yuki! Don't let anybody ever tell you otherwise! Who told you you aren't pretty? I'll give them a black eye!"

"Nobody did. It... It's just that I'm almost a woman, and I've never been asked out, or hit on by anybody thats not drunk..."

"So?"

Yuki felt angry that he didn't get her message, "It obviously means that I'm not pretty!"

Kyoji put his hand over the girl's mouth, "Yuki," he sighed before continuing. "If I didn't think of you as my little sister, I'd have made you my wife as soon as we graduated from training."

Yuki's face lit up like a spark on gasoline, "Onii-chan... I-"

"Don't you ever go thinking you aren't beautiful." Kyoji toussled the short white hair, "Self-confidence is a huge part of your image, thinking like you are now dulls your radience."

Yuki felt one of her occasional attractions to the young man she viewed as her brother. She shook it off, even though he was adopted, he was still her brother... right?

"You wanna go get some drinks to celebrate?"

"You know I can't drink."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid."


	4. Chapter 4

4

"Alright!" Yachiru Kusajishi, Vice-Captain of Squad 11 jumped up, her early teenaged body looking like rubber as she did. "It's Truth-or-Dare time!"

Most of the bar-goers quickly vacated the place before she got to the doors and trapped the remainder in, those including Kyoji and a totally trashed Yuki.

"Oh shit..." Kyoji swore when he realized he didn't get out in time.

"Whaat?" Yuki slurred

"Vice-Captain Kusajishi's Truth-or-Dare games usually get out of hand."

"I like Truttth-or-Dare."

"Yaay!" Yachiru clapped her hands, "Come on everybody!" She grabbed Yuki's sleeve and began pulling. She stopped when Kyoji didn't move, she turned glaring, "I said come on!"

Kyoji shuddered when he saw the black death reflected in the girl's eyes. Reluctantly, he strode over into the room and looked at the other soon-to-be-victims of Yachiru's famous no-holds-barred truth-or-dare game. the obvious three were there, Captain Zaraki, Madarame Ikkaku and Yumichika Ayusegawa, all three of them looking like 'here we go again'... one participant that suprised Kyoji was Captain Kuchiki, although the nobleman looked even less willing to participate than himself... Vice-Captain Hisagi and Vice-Captain Kira sat in the corners of the room, trying to avoid notice... Captain Ukitake had been incapacitated by a coughing fit just long enough to be trapped... and rounding off the group was himself and Yuki.

"OOOOOKAAY!" Yachiru gleefully announced, "I'll go first!" She seemed to be contemplating a massive decision for a few moments before it clicked. She turned to Kyoji with and evil grin, "Ky-Ky! Truth or dare?"

"Yuki is the only person that can call me that!"

"Fine," she looked mad to be flat out denied by a former subordinate, "Meno-Meno!" She referenced his nickname of 'Kamimeno' meaning Godly-eye, a name he'd earned because for whatever reason, his eyes glowed silver if he'd grasp his Zanpakutou's Shikai form. Kenpachi raised an eyebrow slightly, Yachiru never listened when somebody else ever told her to not use a nickname. "Truth or dare?" She repeated.

"Truth," Kyoji was actually thankful to be chosen by Yachiru, she was generally pretty tame in her challenges.

"Awwww... won't you please do a dare?"

"No, I said truth, its the rules."

"Fine..." She considered it again, "Who do you LIKE?"

Kyoji knew what Yachiru was asking even if she hadn't emphasized the word like. "It isn't exactly a secret, I've been on two dates with Momo already."

"Momo?" Yachiru had an airhead moment

"Vice-Captain Hinamori," Hisagi reminded her

There was a question Kyoji had wanted to ask Captain Kuchiki in his time in the 6th Squad, but never found the right wording. "Captain Kuchiki, Truth or dare?"

"As if you had to ask," Byakuya scoffed begrudgingly, "truth."

"I hoped so..." Kyoji took a breath before stepping into what was known as dangerous ground, "What is your true opinion of Miss Rukia's marriage to Ichigo Kurosaki?"

It seemed everyone had an interest in his respone, since Rukia had renounced her Kuchiki name when Byakuya refused to bless her union with Ichigo, where did the man stand on the issue four years after the fact?

The man slowly opened his grey eyes and stared into Kyoji's, "It is none of your business."

The pink haired gamemaster leapt in front of the noble and began giving him an avid lecture about the rules of the game.

"Fine... I have a four-part answer: As a warrior, I respect and fear that man's skill and power... as Head of the Kuchiki Clan, I am ashamed by my sister's behavior and... choice of men... as a brother I am happy that she was able to find someone for whom she'd sacrifice so much without hesitating... and as a man... I despise Ichigo Kurosaki." He stayed silent for a bit, allowing his answer to sink in. After a minute he turned to the only one he didn't know, Yuki. "You, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Yuki was determine to bring life to the thus far dull game.

"Do a trick of some sort." The simplicity of the dare showed just how disinterested the man was.

This was and easy one, Yuki loved doing tricks. She pulled her Zanpakutou from her sheath and put the tip of the blade on the floor. she pushed it into the wood and lifed her feet off the ground, using the pommel as a planting point, she stayed in a single-hand handstand as long as she could. As drunk as she was though, that amounted to a mere three seconds as opposed to her normal twenty. Yuki hit her head squarely on the ground, causing most everyone to flinch. She sat up laughing hysterically, "Damn! that hurt!"

Yuki got ahold of herself and thought about who was most likely to take a wild dare, she grinned as she looked at Ikkaku, "Truuth or dare?"

"Dare!" he answered with the same enthusiasm as Yuki had.

Yuki blushed as she thought up the dare, "Run around the building three times, butt-naked, singing for everyone to look at you."

Ikkaku's eyebrow twitched and Yumichika burst out laughing at the idea. "Y-you," the 3rd officer of the 11th squad stammered, "You gotta be kidding me."

"What's the matter?" Yuki knew how to push the man's buttons from her brief time in the Fighting Eleventh, "don't got the guts?"

Ripping off the top of his Shihakushou, Ikkaku declared, "I NEVER BACK DOWN!" He stepped to the door and cleared his throat, "If you'll excuse me..."

The sounds of people gasping and a scream outside told them all that he was actually doing it before he began singing for everyone to look at him. The door slammed open a minute later as Madarame re-entered, redressing himself as he sat. He glared at Yuki for several minutes, she just smirked back. letting out a huge sigh he turned over to Izuru Kira and began to ask "truth or dare", but was interrupted by the chiming sound of Hell Butterfly wings.

"Emergency! Emergency!" Rin's voice reported through the spell on the Butterflies that stopped directly in front of Shuuhei and Kyoji, "Adjuchas-level hollows have been detected in the Third Rukongai District! All members of the 9th Squad are to meet-up with Vice-Captain Hisagi at the Western Gate!... I repeat... Emergency! Emergency!..."

Both the Vice Captain and 3rd Officer of the 9th Squad leapt to their feet and ran to the door. They FlashStepped to make sure they arrived first.

"Hisagi!" Kyoji called as they quickly crossed the Seireitei.

The Vice-Captain inclined his head to show that he was listening.

"How the hell could something that strong get so close without warning?"

"I don't know," He responded as they landed at the gate a few seconds ahead of most of the squad, "and I don't like it..."


	5. Chapter 5

5

back at the bar, the same question was going through the minds of those present, except for Kenpachi, who didn't care about something too weak to hurt him, and Yachiru who was trying to continue the game.

"Yachiru," Kenpachi finally said, "game's over, the mood's gone."

"but Ken-chan!"

the man just turned his head in the direction of the Western Gate, "I wonder if anybody fun will show up?"

"Kyoji..." Yuki stood at the window, hands clasped at her chest. She felt a gentle grip on her shoulder.

"Are you worried?" Captain Ukitake asked his former subordinate in a comforting voice.

"Of course!" she sounded insulted that he even asked, "my brother is going to battle!"

"True," he responded thoughtfully. It took him a moment before speaking again, "you know... Captain Abarai says that he's seen Kyoji materialize his Sword Spirit?"

"Ky-Ky can summon Boyomi?" she knew what that meant as far as a gage of stength as a Shinigami, it was the final step before the battle of wills between a Shinigami and their Zanpakutou to see if they are truly strong enough to wield the true power of their weapon, the Bankai. "What's it look like?"

"I haven't seen it myself, but I've been told it looks like a tar-covered tree wiith a life-aura around it... anybody who's strong enough to do that should definately be a Vice-Captain, we just didn't have any openings left."

"Onii-chan..." she wondered, remembering how SHE used to be the stronger of the two of them, "Just how far behind have you left me?"

"CRACKING BONE!" Kyoji fliped his sword into a reverse-grip and held it along his arm, placing his left hand behind his shoulder on its tip. Sliding his hand down the length of the blade, it glowed with dark-light, "BOYOMI!"

The dark-light flared, and when it faded, he held a tar-black colored tonfa the length of his entire arm. he shifted his stance to match the change in style as his eyes began to glow silver.

"COME ON!" he bellowed as he and Hisagi broke off to lead two different groups so they could cover more ground. He FlashStepped onto the roof of the nearest building and instantly had to swipe his weapon through the air as a Hollow attacked him. he pointed at its forehead, "HADOU 4! WHITE LIGHTNING!"

The hollow reared back angrily as his mask began to break.

"Break into groups of six per Hollow!" the 3rd Officer ordered, "Anybody dies, and I'll take it personally!"

The monster had taken the momentary distraction to charge a Cero attack.

Sensing the Reiatsu spike, Kyoji turned in time to knock the beast's head upwards as it fired, sending the red energy harmlessly skyward.

Everyone had exited the bar and started heading quickly towards their Squad Barracks. Yuki saw the blast and paused. While the effects of the drinking was beginning to lessen, her imagination was still plauged with thoughts caused by the sake. She stood there looking in the direction of the battle, "Onii-chan..."

"Hakumisu!"

Spinning her head, Yuki saw her Captain. "Captain Hitsu-uguya!"

The boy who couldn't possibly be more than a hundred years older than her had caught the stutter, "have you been drinking?"

Yuki was so embarrassed to be busted by the one Captain she'd thus far had a blemishless record with that she almost cried. "I-it was only a couple of cups to celebrate my brother's promotion."

Toushiro motioned that they should walk together, so they were at least moving towards the Barracks. "Your brother..." He knew this one... "Kurohane, right?"

Yuki nodded, still too embarrassed to give a dignified response.

"Isn't he in the Ninth now?" He took a real stock of Yuki's demeanor for a second, "I'm not mad. Just make sure that next time you wait until after dark, that's the time for drinking anyways."

"Y-yes Captain," Yuki felt the almost ice-like sensation of her Captain's Reiatsu and smiled. It felt much like her Tenrou's, and by extension, she assumed her own. She'd been lost in this thought when he asked about Kyoji's squad placement again.

"Hakumisu!"

"Ah, sorry, he is."

"Is that why you're so out of it?"

Yuki stretched her senses out as far west as she could, even though she knew it wouldn't come close to finding Kyoji all the way out in the 3rd District.

The child prodigy could easily tell that was the problem. "Does it help you feel better knowing that if they need support, we are first on the scene?"

"no, if they need support with two Vice-Captain level officers at the helm, then there would be no way we could get there in time to save them."

"Hinamori would never forgive me if I'd let him die."

Yuki turned the last corner before the Barracks, "Vice-Captain of the 5th?"

"Yeah."

"Her name's Momo right?"

"Yes, you've probably heard that she's dating your brother."

Yuki began giggling.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry, but this may just be the alcohol talking... but if those two end up getting married, you'd be like my other big brother."

Captain Hitsuguya couldn't help but crack a smile.

Kyoji brought Boyomi down to crack straight through a mask and into the skull, being sprayed by the dark blood of his latest kill. Looking around, he saw that most of his squadmates were busy cleaning up the remnants of the invaders. He jogged over to his Vice-Captain, "That was too easy, my group only has a two serious injuries, you?"

Hisagi turned and grimmaced, "Hoshimaru's dead."

"Damn it..." Kyoji had grown to really like the squad's 6th Officer.

"Who's hu-"

Everyone in the field they stood in felt the Reiatsu pulse. they snapped their heads to see a Garganta open above them and three human-shaped entities step out of it.

"Oh no," Shuuhei knew what was coming next

"Are those Arrancar?" Somebody asked

"Damn it to hell!" Kyoji turned praying that back-up could make it in time. "where the fuck's our Captain?"


	6. Chapter 6

6

The Hell Butterflies showed up as soon as Yuki and the Captain arrived. As soon as they saw them, the entire squad was on their feet. "We're coming Onii-chan."

Captain Kurotsuchi was inside the detection center ranting and raving about how his systems were flawless and that no Hollows should ever enter the Soul Society without prior notice, let alone open a Garganta in the middle of the Rukongai.

"Let me go Isane!" Captain Renji Abarai struggled against the Vice-Captain of the 4th Squad, AKA the Relief Unit.

"Captain!" she protested as she had her arms wrapped around his waist and feet planted against a door jam, "you're in no condition to fight!"

"It's just a cold!" He tried to brush off a case of pnumonia so sever that he couldn't run without passing out from the inability to get enough oxygen.

"Captain Abarai," Captain Unohana of the 4th placed a hand on his chest, "You will behave in my hospital, or I will have to make you."

"But you must have felt that too," Renji collapsed to the ground fighting for air. "that's my squad against that without a Captain..."

"If you went out there, they'd end up with no captain, I doubt you could even defeat an Adjuchas in your condition. So get back in your bed, the 10th Squad is already mobilized"

A woman Shinigami screamed as she was torn apart by the largest of the three Arrancar. He held her arm above his head and drank the blood that dripped from it. throwing it away he grinned, "next."

All of the squad stepped forward, ready to charge and avenge the honorless death they'd just witnessed. "STOP!" Hisagi ordered before anyone else died, "Officers only! Anyone else is like a fly to them... we might not even be enough."

"ah," Kyoji was sweating as he spoke, "so you saw it too..."

"yeah, she wasn't ripped apart, the other two hacked her so quick most of them couldn't see it."

"I don't know if i can counter that speed," Kyoji knew they needed to hold out for support, they'd be sending Captains now that Arrancar showed up. "We're up shit creek here Shuuhei."

"If you guys don't hurry," a scrawny and short Arrancar mused, "we'll come for you."

"We gotta do it," the Vice-Captain said confidently, "if a Shinigami dies protecting those weaker than themself, they died doing their duty."

"Right," Kyoji shook his fear by imagining Momo's smile. "Let's do it, I got the big guy."

Kyoji, Hisagi and Ryuken, the Fourth Officer, strode forward and stood in front of an opponent.

"Hey!" the large one spoke, "I don't think this guy is the one I want! Who's the strongest here?"

"Yo fatass!" Kyoji flourished Boyomi and took a stance, "I'll give you more than you can take, you don't need the Vice-Captain."

the one who'd so far been silent raised an eyebrow, and asked in a female voice, "Your Captain isn't here?"

"No, but Hisagi is strong enough to be one."

"SHUT UP INSECT!" Kyoji's opponent dropped a hammerblow onto the 3rd Officer, sending up a massive plume of dust.

"That was quite a hit," Kyoji said as the dust cleared, revealing he'd blocked with his zanpakuto. "But before i whoop your ass, I should tell you that defense is my strong point."

Yuki recognized one of the flaring energies as Kyoji's, they were still a distance off, so the fight must be intense for her to feel them from here. "Captain!"

"I know!" He cocked his head to Matsumoto, "I'm going ahead!"

"Roger!" She responed as she watched his Captain's Jacket dissapearing in the distance.

"Come on Shinigami!" the giant pounded the ground half a step away from Kyoji as he back-pedaled away from the assault. "I, Milliard Cordova, will grind you to a powder!"

"that's such a retarded name!" Kyoji used the recovery motion of Milliard to move in and punch the large stomach with Boyomi. he rolled away from the reflex strike and turning as he got up on one knee he brought his hands together, "HADOU 33! SAPPHIRE CRASH!"

The blue flames met head-on with their target. "MWAHAHAHAHA! you're good Shinigami!" Milliard laughed as he found that his shoulder was bleeding slightly. "By far the best of your kind I've ever faced. What is your name?"

"Kyoji Kurohane! Remember it, it's the name of your killer!"

"It seems Jerome and Marie have both finished already..."

Kyoji turned to see both Ryuken and Hisagi laying dead on the ground, "Shuuhei! Sei!"

Neither of the men responed.

Kyoji's demenor changed from cocky warrior trying to buy time to vengeful man; and with the change in his attitude, came a change in the color of his eyes from shining silver to glowering dark-lights. "I'll rip each of you apart myself!"

Toushiro Hitsuguya sensed the loss of the two high ranking officers. However, he was more concerned by the change in the Reiatsu of the one he was desparately hurrying to save. He recognized it from his many encounters with beings of the same kind, not quite Shinigami, not quite Hollow. "Kurohane... Don't lose to yourself."

Yuki had only sensed this once before. "Onii-chan!" she screamed as she pushed herself as fast as her body could possibly handle, pulling away from most of the Squad. The fear erased any effects of the alcohol. Memories of her brother's dark-half flooded her mind, the eyes, the voice, the hate... the mask.


	7. Chapter 7

7

"WHAT IS THIS?" Milliard Cordova yelled as a purely evil energy flowed out of Kyoji as the boy yelled in rage and pain of loss. when the energy ebbed, Kyoji had changed: he stood slightly hunched, his grip was loose on Boyomi, his entire body moved with his breathing, and a bone-white tri-horned and fanged mask covered his face. Two of the horns sat at the corners of his eyes, pointning down, looking like tears; and the other sat in the center of his forehead, standing out as if challenging anyone to approach.

"Blood..." A twisted version of Kyoji's voice floated out of the new version of him, "the blood of my friends stains the ground..."

Milliard found it humorous the way the Shinigami only just seemed to notice, "hmhmhm, yes, it does. Isn't it pretty?"

The mask snapped to face the large Hollow squarely and growled. Kyoji began spinning Boyomi so quicky that it kicked up small whirlwinds to his side. "DIE FOUL BEAST!" he screamed as he charged faster than Milliard could react. The impact of the tonfa crushed the left side of the Arrancar's head, and sent him flying into the air. Blood-red energy began to gather at his mouth as Kyoji took an unnaturally deep breath, whipping his head upward he released the Cero and erased all proof of Milliard Cordova's existance.

"VENOMOUS TOUCH! ESCORPION!"

"HAUNTING VISIONS! PESADILLA!"

Turning in response to the spikes of reiatsu, Kyoji found the scrawny Hollow now had claws instead of hands and a tail, along with an armor-like shell; the woman now seemed to be nothing more that a dark colored collection of sheets with a face. He began to charge them.

"BANKAI! DAIGUREN HYOUINMARU!"

A dome of ice erected itself around Kyoji, isolating and protecting him as Captain Hitsuguya entered the battle.

"Captain," Yuki begged, knowing she was only minutes away, "keep them away from Ky-Ky. I'll bring him back to us."

Having knocked both of the Arrancar into eachother, Toushiro changed the grip on his sword, "Dragon Hail Flower!" He collided with the Hollows in an explosion of ice. As he landed, the Ice surrounding his body and causing him to look like a dragon dissapearred, allowing him to land on his own feet. The formation of ice in the sky, containing the frozen remains of the Hollows burst apart, looking like snow falling to the ground.

Kyoji was tired of being trapped in such a small area, so he prepared his Cero and fired at the place he sensed the one responsible for his imprisionment.

Sensing the power, Hitsuguya turned and released his Shikai, "Reign from the Frozen Skies! Hyouinmaru!" Using the ice dragon it summoned to absorb the blast. "Kurohane! get ahold of yourself!"

"Their blood! Their lives!" Kyoji clutched at his head, "IT'S MY FAULT!"

"No! It's not!"

"RRRRAAAAAHH!" Kyoji charged the Captain of the 11th Squad.

"Kyoji!" Toushiro tried to reach the man inside the monster as he parried a powerful strike.

"Shuuhei and Sei..." Kyoji attacked in a berserk rage, his Vice-Captain was a very good friend of his. "Both of them. WHY CAPTAIN? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE THEM?"

Histuguya was honestly wondering whether he was speaking with the Shinigami or his Inner Hollow. It was obvious, however, which was controlling his body.

Both of the men sensed a presence rapidly approaching from behind Kyoji.

"Hakumisu! NOT YET!"

She didn't get the warning in time and found herself driven into the ground by a backhand blow. Blood sprayed from her mouth as she slammed against the dirt.

"!" Kyoji dropped his weapon and began tugging at his hair.


	8. Chapter 8

8

"YOU BASTARD!" Kyoji screamed at a reverse-colored version of himself in the basin of the volcano that was his inner world.

"Look buddy," his Inner Hollow answered from the pillar of stone he stood on above the raging lava, "if your little girlfriend or sister or whatever wasn't a stupid-ass cunt, she'd have seen the situation."

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" Kyoji leapt up from the stone he'd been on as it was swallowed by the rising orange liquid streaked with violet. He landed on the same pillar that his dark half stood upon.

"Why? you got anything to back up that threat? You forget, I know everything about your pansy-ass. Even about how you couldn't pull the trigger when tiny-titty Momo was pretty much offering herself to you."

"It was our second date you motherfucker! She just wanted a kiss! I'm not gonna sleep with her that soon, even if she'd stripped and jumped on me!"

"Why? are you gay?"

Magma sprayed up as the subterrainian pressure began to escape in bursts.

"That must be why you like a chest-less bitch!" Kyoji's Inner Hollow began laughing, "everybody knows she's a chick, but since she's got nothing up top you can hide behind her while you pretend she's a dude!"

"You've insulted both of the women i care for... both girls I love!" Kyoji's eyes flared with anger as a massive spray of lava hid half of the sky. He rushed forward drawing his Zanpakuto from its sheath. "You'll never be able to insult anyone after i'm through with you!"

"wow... somebody's a scary fairy!"

Hitsuguya stood over Kyoji, ready to kill him if he lost the fight in his mind. He looked over his shoulder as Matsumoto tried to heal Yuki's wounds, "how is she?"

"Not good Captain, I'm nowhere near good enough to do anything other than keep her from dying."

"Damn. Kurohane, you really messed up this time... although i think we all understand why this happened to you..."

"Hadou 4! White Lightning!"

"Bakudou 81, Splitting Void."

Kyoji's attack was harmlessly absorbed by the shield spell his Inner Hollow used.

"When did you learn to use such an advanced spell without its incantation?" Kyoji stood dumbfounded

"Retard! I learned to skip incantaions when you did! I just have the nuts to attempt it on such a high-level spell, unlike a certain faggot here."

"Hadou 63! Twin Crashing Lotus!" Kyoji responed with an incantationless spell above his level. It wasn't as strong as it should have been.

"weak dude!" The Inner Hollow mused as he batted it away barehanded. He rushed in and crossed swords with Kyoji.

"Bakudou 1!" Kyoji lifted two fingers from the hilt of his sword

"NO!" Kyoji had never used Kidou while bladelocked

"Restrict!"

The Inner Hollow's arms were pulled behind him by the magic which he instantly broke. but that moment was all Kyoji needed to strike. He drove the blade through the right shoulder of his Yin.

Blood sprayed from Kyoji's shoulder. It caught Toushiro off guard and he stepped back as Kyoji screamed in pain. "Kurohane!"

"Heh!" Kyoji's inner Hollow laughed with self-pity, "you got me again asshole! nice... move..."

"I'll never let you take anyone from me again. not after Yuki's family."

"I'll be back again," the Inner Hollow cackled as he began to fade away, "you still aren't strong enough to control me."

"YUKI!" Kyoji called as he regained control of himself. He moved to go to her only to find Hyouinmaru pointed at his throat.

"Are you back to normal?"

Kyoji pushed the blade aside and looked Toushiro in the eye as the mask began to crumble. The Captain nodded and let Kyoji run to his sister.

"Ky-Ky..." Yuki whispered as she sensed his presence approaching.

"Shhh, I'm here now."

"Good, I was afraid that the Captain would have to kill you." Yuki began couging blood again.

"Don't talk! if you just shut up, you'll be fine. then you can find a boyfriend like you wanted to do."

"hmmhmmhmmm," Yuki weakly giggled, "I kinda have a crush on someone already..."

"You move quick, Yuki-chan." Rangiku joked

Yuki smiled.

"Well then just relax and don't move so you can tell him."

"Onii-chan... I don't have long. And unless Captain Unohana herself shows up, I don't think I can be saved."

"SHUT UP YUKI!" Kyoji demanded, "we both made a promise that neither of us would die before we were both Captains."

Yuki turned her head to look at her leader, "Captain..." she reached out her hand.

Taking a knee, Toushiro Hitsuguya grasped the hand of his dying subordinate, "What is it Hakumisu?"

"Will you give me my first real kiss before I die?"

"I..." He'd not been expecting that, but could he really bring himself to deny a girl's dying request?

"Yuki!" Kyoji said somewhere between begging and demanding, "you aren't gonna die!"

"Yuki-chan..." Rangiku looked at the girl, then up at her Captain. She tried to communicate with her eyes that he should do it for no other reason than to let the girl die happy.

"I'd be honored," Hitsuguya answered as he leaned down.


	9. Chapter 9

9

Kyoji Kurohane dragged his feet as he walked around the Barracks of the 9th Squad. His eyes never left the floor and he never responed to anyone with more than three words. Even when his Captain demanded that he tell him what had happened, all Kyoji said was, "good people died," before trudging out of the office.

Renji Abarai needed to fill the holes caused by his Vice-Captain's, Fourth Officer's and Sixth Officer's deaths. It was obvious that Kyoji Kurohane was the one to fill Shuuhei Hisagi's position, but the man was barely above catatonic. He left to find an old friend, knowing that he needed to borrow something of hers.

Striding into the Barracks of the 5th Squad, Renji called out, "Hey Rukia!"

Momo Hinamori popped around the corner, "I'm sorry Captain Abarai, but Captain Kurosaki is out at the moment. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"well," he scratched the back of his head, "actually, I was kinda coming about you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, I'm sure you've heard about the battle yesterday."

"Yes, it's all so horrible, I haven't even had enough of a break to go see him."

"I know, I was trying to arrange something with Rukia so you could..." Renji pausd then shrugged, "know what, just go, I'll wait here until Rukia gets back and I'll talk to her about it."

"I don't know if that's the best solution. She could get mad at me."

"Nah, not Rukia. Besides, she disobeyed orders for Ichigo before."

"But-"

Renji held up his hand, "you want to help your boyfriend, right?"

Momo blushed, "we're just dating... we aren't really like that yet."

"whatever, just go Momo!"

She smiled and bowed, "Thank you Renji!"

"Hey," he winked, "that's Captain Abarai."

Kyoji was standing in a field, leaning forward against a tar-covered tree, holding himself up with his hands. "How can you still trust me?" He demanded as he spoke to his Sword Spirit.

"Because YOU are not the one who slew Yuki Hakumisu. HE was."

"That's exactly what I mean," Kyoji pulled one of his hands away from Boyomi. He looked down at the tar covering his palm before making a fist, "just like you and I are the definitions of the other, he is the definition of my shadow. He is part of me."

"Does not that make him part of me as well? And you part of him?"

"Boyomi..." Kyoji knew the ancient spirit was right, but was it as simple as that made it sound? "That's why he wields you as well, but as we've both seen, he holds more power than me."

"Wrong. He holds the exact same power that you do. like you said, he IS you. the difference is the way you think. You are a kind spirit with a strong power, he is insanity wielding power. the Kind Heart always seems weaker, your mind, however operates more clearly than his, he uses every move he has ever thought of, you keep many in reserve."

"I..." Kyoji looked at both of his tar-covered hands, "I understand that. but," he turned his hands to the tree, showing the black muck to it, "these hands are stained. whether controled or not, THESE hands are the reason my sister is dead!"

"KYOJI!" the Spirit's voice bellowed in his mind. "THIS is why you cannot control the abomination! you brood over every mistake you ever make! Even if you were not the one to commit the deed! this sole weakness is the final obstical before you can defeat him! Also it is the reason that i refuse any challenge for dominance!"

"This weakness i am well aware of. but you gotta admit, this is a big one. I think its more than okay for me to grieve when I killed my own sister!"

"Kyoji..." A timid voice nervously pulled him from his discussion.

Turning, Kyoji saw Momo hovering a few feet away, almost afraid to approach. "hey..."

"you... you shouldn't blame yourself."

He turned back to Boymi and reached into a knothole at hip height. The tree wavered before dissapearing to reveal the Zanpakutou in blade form in Kyoji's hand. He raised the sword to eye-level, "That's what he's saying too. But It doesn't matter, I killed Yuki."

"It's not your fault!" Momo put one hand on her chest as she stepped forward, closing the distance between her and the young man that she was extremely fond of. "It wasn't actually you, right? You're one of those people with a Hollow inside, it was HIM!"

Kyoji slowly slid Boyomi back into the sheath. He looked at Momo, then looked at the ground, then at the sky. He breathed deeply, almost like when his Hollow-form would use a Cero. He let the air out in a massive sigh. he looked back at the young woman that he knew he loved, "and you don't fear me?"

"No!" Momo declared, "you'd never hurt me!"

"Heh," it was an almost sarcastic sounding laugh, "It's true that Kyoji Kurohane would have never hurt Yuki Hakumisu as well."

The confidence in Momo's eyes lessened.

"But there is a beast deep inside me. It lives in my fears and my dreams. He comes out when I'm desperate for life or enraged, and all three times it's happened, He's killed someone dear to me."

"Three times?" Momo asked, "I thought It was only two."

"No, the first time, was to protect a friend from a Hollow, but then I turned around and bit his throat out. The next was the reason Yuki and I became Shinigami, I killed her parents who'd adopted me. She'd joined to become strong enough to stop me the next time it happens, I joined to become strong enough to control it."

"And the third time was yesterday..."

"And I killed my sister with these hands." Kyoji looked at his hands with disgust.

Momo had heard enough, she grabbed his hands, not caring about the tar on them. She pulled them up to her cheeks, making Kyoji cup her face. Momo then grabbed the shoulders of his shihakushou, like someone would if they were threatening a person. "Look! YOU didn't kill your friend! YOU didn't kill Yuki's family! YOU certainly didn't kill Yuki! YOU won't ever hurt me! and _I_ sure as hell wouldn't do this to that monster!" Momo yanked Kyoji into a kiss and held him there.

The Captains of the 5th and 9th Squads stood hidden in the shadows of the trees watching their subordinates. "Am I great or what?" Renji grinned at Rukia.

"Idiot, you didn't do anything."

"No? I told her to leave your barracks to help him."

"Oh yeah, about that..." Rukia rolled up her sleeve


	10. Chapter 10

10

Kyoji stood at attention in the Captain's Hall of the 1st Squad's counsel area. Six Captains stood on each side of the room with their Vice-Captains by their side, with the obvious exception of Renji. It was obvious that something massive was about to happen as Head Captain Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryuusai took his place in the chair in the back of the room, his Vice-Captain standing slightly behind him and to his side. "I have called this executive meeting including Vice-Captains because there are some likely contiversal decisions to be made here today in regards to 9th Squad's 3rd Officer Kyoji Kurohane. It was suggested that I get as much input as possible on each of them to prevent unrest in the ranks." He cast a glance at 13th Squad's Captain Jyushiro Ukitake. "Firstly is the most critical matter! The fact that the young man before you is a VIzard who is unable to control his Inner Hollow. The evidence of this accusation is something I'm sure every one of you has heard by now, this man killed his own sister in a berieved rage over the lost of several of his fellow squadmates. The laws are rather clear when it comes to cutting down fellow Shinigami, it is forbidden! And the penalty is death!"

"Objection!" Hitsuguya stepped out of line to emphasize his outburst. "As the highest-ranking officer present, I can attest that, without question, Hakumisu's death was a result of a reflex to a percieved attack from behind. Kurohane merely did what we trained him to do."

"That may likely be the case," Captain Soifon countered, "but someone as skilled as that should easily be able to tell the difference between Shinigami and Hollow Reiatsu."

"Soifon," Ichigo Kurosaki, newly appointed Captain of the 3rd Squad, pointed out, "I can tell you from experience, that during those internal struggles with an Inner Hollow, ALL approaching Reiatsu feels like the enemy."

"I had assumed that much," Yamamoto continued, "so I assumed the issue of his sister's death would not be the deciding issue of the boy's fate. So, on to the next issue, that he is a Vizard who, after two recorded instances, has yet to gain dominance over his dark half."

Kyoji raised his hand, even though he knew that correcting the number would make him look worse, he felt that an informed judgement would be the right one.

"Yes?" the Head Captain cocked his eyebrow.

"I was a child for it, but there was another times it happened."

"I see," the Head Captain found a new level of respect for Kyoji, being willing to condemn himself for an informed decision. "Thank you for being so forthcoming with such a thing."

Kyoji bowed slightly in response.

"Three times, and still no dominance. Input? Kurosaki, I would very much value your views on this."

Ichigo walked out of the lines and got close enough to Kyoji to have a private conversation, "three times?" he asked somewhat suprised, he'd dominated his on the third, but he'd had help.

"Yes," Kyoji's shoulders drooped slightly, "and I've lost someone each time."

"hmmmm," Ichigo thought about what questions he could ask to figure out how much control Kyoji DID have. "Has your Inner Hollow dominated your Zanpakuto's Spirit?"

Kyoji gave a quizzical look

"I mean when you speak with your sword in your Inner World, does it look like it originally did, or does it look like him?"

"It still looks like a tree."

Ichigo knew that was a good thing. "How long does it take you to defeat your Inner Hollow and regain control of your body?"

"Once my mind regains enough focus to battle him, only a few minutes. I don't know how long I'm out of it before that."

Looking over his shoulder, "Hey, Toushiro!"

"That's Captain Hitsuguya..."

"Yeah, my bad. Could you tell how long was it from when he first went Hollow to when his mask broke two days ago?"

The young Captain thought for a moment, "around three or four minutes."

Ichigo put his hand on Kyoji's shoulder. He turned to face the Head Captain, "He has way more control than I did when you guys first hired me."

"But is it enough control that he can dominate it soon?"

"I can't say that. Back when Shinji and those guys were training me to use my Mask, I heard all sorts of numbers about how long it took them to dominate their Inner Hollows, but as each one did, they taught the others."

"Would you be able to teach him?"

Ichigo brought his hand to his chin and considered it. after a minute, he shook his head, "I learned pretty much everything as I fought my way through Hueco Mundo. It was instinctual learning, I wouldn't even know how to explain what I know. If we could find the others-"

"NO!" The Head Captain bellowed, "they were exiled! they may have aided us when we needed it most, but the laws are what they are."

"Yama-Jii," Captain Shinsui Kyouraku of the 8th Squad commented, "need I remind you that Ichigo there originally came here as an invader? but now he stands here as one of the strongest soldiers on our side."

"Be that as it may, I doubt they would help us."

"I don't know," Ichigo countered, "they actually sought me out. maybe they'll try to find him."

"Thank you for your help Captain, you may step back in line."

Ichigo nodded to Kyoji before taking his place next to Rukia again.

"Kyoji Kurohane."

"Yes Sir?"

"Tell me your views on this."

Kyoji's views were known to several in the room as 'stop me before I kill again', plain and simple. "I..." Kyoji stammered as he started. "I don't want to kill anyone else. I've lost enough friends in the past ten years to last a lifetime. And killing those I love myself cuts me deeply, even if I'm not the one controlling my actions... But I don't want to die. I take pride in being a protector of those weaker than me, and I wish to one day be as strong as yourself so I can protect everyone."

"A noble goal to be sure. But have you considered the consequences of being as powerful as I am and losing control then?"

Kyoji remained silent.

"Power is something that has two sides to it, light and dark. Take Aizen for example, his power would have been invaluable to the Shinigami. However, he choose to squander it, taking with him two Captains and, using their combined power and resources, nearly destroyed us all. All because he felt his way was better. Power is duty."

Kyoji absorbed what was said before nodding in understanding. "I still wish to protect others," he eventually said as the Head Captain gave him a chance to respond.

"Very well," Yamamoto closed his eyes for a moment. Slowly he opened them, "If you would wait in the corridor, we will discuss your fate."

Kyoji bowed and quickly tried to judge from facial expressions how many were on his side. He listed the ones he could tell in his head, "Momo, both Kurosakis, Abarai, Histuguya, Matsumoto, Kusajishi, Ukitake, Kyoraku..." After a moment he turned towards the door and realized two things, that was only nine out of the twenty five people in the room and he'd completely forgotten to add their titles in his head.

Kyoji had reached the door when Yamamoto called out, "one last thing! Leave your Zanpakutou with your Captain."

The thought caused Kyoji to feel cold. "Must I? Regardless of whether I'm armed or not, I'd never defeat any of the Captains in here if you decide against me. If I may, I'd like to have my blade as long as I still hold the title of Shinigami."

When the intense eyes of the oldest Shinigami remained lock with his own, Kyoji knew the answer. He strode reluctantly over to Captain Abarai and stood in front of him. Sighing heavily, he slowly pulled Boyomi, sheath and all, from his hip. He held out his weapon, half of his soul, to his Captain.

"Don't worry," Renji assured him as he grasped the dark wood of the scabbard, "I'll take good care of him."

Kyoji felt his hand begin to tremble as he released his own grip. Without another word or backwards glance, he almost ran towards the door before slamming it behind him and collapsing against it, feeling empty inside without the presence of his sword.


	11. Chapter 11

11

Kyoji was pacing the hall, feeling ill. it had been nearly two hours since he was asked to step into the hallway. His thoughts weren't on his future, but on his Zanpakutou. It was part of who he was, and he'd had no idea how much of an impact not feeling its presence would have on him. It was like a meth addict trying to quit, it hurt him, made him sick and he was starting to tweak out.

Finally, a voice summoned him. Kyoji knew the voice belonged to Head Captain Yamamoto, but in his current state of mind, it took him a moment to make that connection. He did his best to seem normal and calm as he opened the door. He strode towards the place he'd stood previously and cast a look over to his Captain.

Kyoji stopped mid-stride when he saw Renji wasn't holding Boyomi anymore. Renji nodded towards Yamamoto communicating that not only his fate, but his blade was in the hand of the Head Captain. Kyoji responed with a 'you broke a promise' glare before continuing and taking his place.

"Do not worry," Yamamoto held Boyomi so Kyoji could see it, "you'd already have known if we'd harmed your Zanpakutou."

Kyoji nodded curtly, eager to break the atmosphere of suspense.

"We have discussed the matter thoroughly," the Head Captain began, "and I have come to the conclussion that this matter is best to be left to a vote rather than a single voice. And as such, I will ask three questions, and if you agree with it, raise your hand. This is how the boy's fate will be decided."

Kyoji rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment, uncertain if this method would be a blessing or his undoing.

"Firstly! For the crime of killing a fellow Shinigami, even out of a defensive reflex. Should Kurohane be put to death?"

Both Captain and Vice-Captain Kurotsuchi of the Twelfth Squadron raised their hands, as did Captain Soifon. but no one else.

Kyoji had honestly expected more, but was relieved there wasn't.

"Very well, he shall live. Next issue, should we revoke his active status as a Shinigami?"

The same three were joined by Captain Kuchiki and his Vice-Captain, Soifon's Vice-Captain, the 1st Squad's Vice-Captain, Vice-Captain Karin Kurosaki of the 13th Squad and the Head Captain himself.

Ichigo's sister was one Kyoji hadn't expected, she usually followed her brother's lead to the letter, but she was far stricter on rules it would seem.

"It would seem that you will be recieving your sword back after all. Final issue, does anoyone think he should be allowed the chance to qualify for Vice-Captain?"

Every hand that had yet to be raised was now in the air, with the exception of Izuru Kira's.

Kyoji had expected maybe six hands, not fifteen.

"It is so decided!" Head Captain Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai slammed his cane on the ground as he declared the issue closed. "Kyoji Kurohane is to return to active duty immediately and is scheduled to take the Vice-Captain's exam in six days!"

Kyoji stood stunned, he didn't desreve this in his opinion.

"You may now reclaim your weapon," the eldest Shinigami nodded at Kyoji and held out the Zanpakuto.

Kyoji was so eager to hold his weapon again that he FlashStepped up to the old man. He grabbed the scabbard and felt the blade's energy reconnecting with his own.

"Oh yes," Yamamoto said as if remembering something, "this is all assuming that you conquer him here and now."

"What?" Kyoji felt a Kidou spell strike him as he made eye-contact to confirm what he'd heard. He heard the laughing of his Inner Hollow echoing in his mind.

"All Vice-Captains get outta here!" Ichigo Kurosaki ordered as he recognized the feeling of this particular spell. It was the one used when he was forced to face of against his own Hollow for dominance. "He's going to start transforming soon! Only Captains will stand a chance!"

"Captains, fight to defend against his attacks and keep him contained!" Yamamoto ordered as the bone-colored mask began forming as Kyoji resisted the changing.

"Old..." Kyoji struggled to say as he began losing control of his body and his voice began to warp, "bastard..."

11

Kyoji was pacing the hall, feeling ill. it had been nearly two hours since he was asked to step into the hallway. His thoughts weren't on his future, but on his Zanpakutou. It was part of who he was, and he'd had no idea how much of an impact not feeling its presence would have on him. It was like a meth addict trying to quit, it hurt him, made him sick and he was starting to tweak out.

Finally, a voice summoned him. Kyoji knew the voice belonged to Head Captain Yamamoto, but in his current state of mind, it took him a moment to make that connection. He did his best to seem normal and calm as he opened the door. He strode towards the place he'd stood previously and cast a look over to his Captain.

Kyoji stopped mid-stride when he saw Renji wasn't holding Boyomi anymore. Renji nodded towards Yamamoto communicating that not only his fate, but his blade was in the hand of the Head Captain. Kyoji responed with a 'you broke a promise' glare before continuing and taking his place.

"Do not worry," Yamamoto held Boyomi so Kyoji could see it, "you'd already have known if we'd harmed your Zanpakutou."

Kyoji nodded curtly, eager to break the atmosphere of suspense.

"We have discussed the matter thoroughly," the Head Captain began, "and I have come to the conclussion that this matter is best to be left to a vote rather than a single voice. And as such, I will ask three questions, and if you agree with it, raise your hand. This is how the boy's fate will be decided."

Kyoji rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment, uncertain if this method would be a blessing or his undoing.

"Firstly! For the crime of killing a fellow Shinigami, even out of a defensive reflex. Should Kurohane be put to death?"

Both Captain and Vice-Captain Kurotsuchi of the Twelfth Squadron raised their hands, as did Captain Soifon. but no one else.

Kyoji had honestly expected more, but was relieved there wasn't.

"Very well, he shall live. Next issue, should we revoke his active status as a Shinigami?"

The same three were joined by Captain Kuchiki and his Vice-Captain, Soifon's Vice-Captain, the 1st Squad's Vice-Captain, Vice-Captain Karin Kurosaki of the 13th Squad and the Head Captain himself.

Ichigo's sister was one Kyoji hadn't expected, she usually followed her brother's lead to the letter, but she was far stricter on rules it would seem.

"It would seem that you will be recieving your sword back after all. Final issue, does anoyone think he should be allowed the chance to qualify for Vice-Captain?"

Every hand that had yet to be raised was now in the air, with the exception of Izuru Kira's.

Kyoji had expected maybe six hands, not fifteen.

"It is so decided!" Head Captain Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryusai slammed his cane on the ground as he declared the issue closed. "Kyoji Kurohane is to return to active duty immediately and is scheduled to take the Vice-Captain's exam in six days!"

Kyoji stood stunned, he didn't desreve this in his opinion.

"You may now reclaim your weapon," the eldest Shinigami nodded at Kyoji and held out the Zanpakuto.

Kyoji was so eager to hold his weapon again that he FlashStepped up to the old man. He grabbed the scabbard and felt the blade's energy reconnecting with his own.

"Oh yes," Yamamoto said as if remembering something, "this is all assuming that you conquer him here and now."

"What?" Kyoji felt a Kidou spell strike him as he made eye-contact to confirm what he'd heard. He heard the laughing of his Inner Hollow echoing in his mind.

"All Vice-Captains get outta here!" Ichigo Kurosaki ordered as he recognized the feeling of this particular spell. It was the one used when he was forced to face of against his own Hollow for dominance. "He's going to start transforming soon! Only Captains will stand a chance!"

"Captains, fight to defend against his attacks and keep him contained!" Yamamoto ordered as the bone-colored mask began forming as Kyoji resisted the changing.

"Old..." Kyoji struggled to say as he began losing control of his body and his voice began to warp, "bastard..."


	12. Chapter 12

12

"What's up buddy!" the Inner Hollow cackled while perched on one of the branches of Boyomi at the bottom of the volcano, the magma having cooled over and hardened.

"This is beyond fucked up..." Kyoji was still too caught up by the situation to really take stock of what was happening.

"YO FAIRY FUCK! I'M UP HERE!"

Kyoji snapped out of it and turned around to face his darkness.

"So you think you can take me all the way down?"

"Do I have a choice? If I don't, we both die."

"Nah! they won't be able to defeat me once I'm in charge! My version of your body is totally beyond what they expect..."

Ten different binding spells held Kyoji's body immobile, but it wasn't enough. Most of the spells began failing as a rush of Hollow Reiatsu burst forth from him.

Ichigo was, until that point, yelling at the Head Captain about whether he realized what he could potentially be unleashing. "Damn it!" Ichigo pulled Zangetsu from his back and pointed it straight out. As he gathered his Reiatsu, the cloth acting as a grip wrapped around his arm, "BANKAI!" Black energy wrapped around him and when it dissappated, his clothing had become more like an open trenchcoat and his masssive blade became a thin black kantana with the Kanji symbol 'Ban' as his crossguard. "Tensa Zangetsu!"

"I said fight to subdue!" Yamamoto told the 3rd Squad's Captain.

"I know, and you really don't know what you've done." Ichigo turned, ready to leap into action the moment the spells all were broken.

"CRACKING BONE!" Both Kyojis screamed with their hands at the tips of swords held in reverse grips along their arms. They silmultainiously slid their hands dow the metal, "BOYOMI!"

Before the tonfas finished forming they were charging straight for each other.

"Hadou 1!" Kyoji aimed for where the next step of his doppleganger would be, "Thrust!"

The Hollow lost his balance as his foot was shot out from under him. He stepped out to catch himself and looked back toward his opponent, who'd dissapeared. He threw up a block above him as Kyoji came crashing down from above.

"I've seen that! That's how you made 3rd Officer!"

Kyoji rolled into the hand to hand he'd begun studying during his brief time in the 2nd Squad. All of his kicks and strikes were parried as if the Hollow knew the exact order of strikes. Kyoji was quickly becoming frustrated, so he began using gurad-breaking moves.

with an intense cackle, the Hollow mocked Kyoji's desprate attempt to best him. he side-stepped a wide strike and FlashStepped with a punch, using the massive acceleration to exponentially increase the impact of the strike.

Kyoji was lifted off the ground by the blow. Fighting for the breath that had been knocked out of him, he tried to re-establish his defenses as the Yin of his soul charged in again.

Kyoji's transforming body charged straight at Kenpachi Zaraki howling it's defiance.

"Idiot!" The Captain of the 11th Squad kicked at the approaching form, he paused when he felt no impact.

The half-Hollow half-Shinigami sat on the man's knee, laughing in a way that sounded like he was underwater. It swept its claws at the massive man's head.

The moment Kenpachi felt the points enter his flesh, the thing attacking him seized as blood exploded from its hip. "What the hell?"

Kyoji grinned as he held the sealed, blade form of his weapon.

The Hollow looked down at his hip, seeing the sword through it. "You really are a messed up mother-fucker!"

Kyoji had allowed the Hollow to think he'd merely blocked the blow, but he hadn't. He'd released the Shikai at the moment of impact and slid the weapon downwards. The result of the gamble was his first legitimate strike of the fight. "Whatever it takes," he chided.

Grinning, the Hollow grasped the blade and ripped it out of himself. It worsened his wound, but it allowed him the ability to move.

Both of the fighters decided that it was time they stopped holding anything back. They began FlashStepping everywhere, a game of Cat and Mouse that would end in one of their deaths.

"Bakudou 81," Byakuya summoned the spell when he realized he was the target of the Cero about to be fired. "Splitting Void."

The blood-red energy was released with a scream that sounded like a release of pain. It slammed into the shield of Kidou. The sheer force of the energy was enough that it richocheted off the spell, straight towards Retsu Unohana of the 4th Squad.

A black blur moved in between her and the energy. "HEAVEN-SPLITTING MOON-FANG!" Ichigo released his signature attack of super-concentrated reiatsu, and the attacks canceled each other. "You ok?" Ichigo asked without taking his eyes of off Kyoji.

"Of course." The Medical Captain sighed, "I thank you, but I could have handled that myself."

"Better not to risk it," Ichigo risked a look over his shoulder, "We may need your expertise soon. He still hasn't woken up completely."

Kyoji managed to get behind his darkness for a split second before it dissapeared and swung at him from his left. Kyoji dissapeared from beneath the attack and reappeared several feet away. He moved away from another attack as soon as his feet hit the ground.

"KEEP RUNNING FUCKER!"

Kyoji spun as he landed again. he dropped his sword and clapped his hands together. "SPIDERWEB OF THE MIST!"

The Hollow was snagged and frozen with the attack so close that if his Boyomi was in its sealed form, Kyoji's cheek would have been cut. "WHAT IS THIS SHIT!"

Kyoji bent over and picked up his sword. Quickly, he used Shikai as he turned to face the Hollow. "It's a binding spell that i cooked up on the fly. I was releasing an extremely thin Kidou mist the entire time you thought you were chasing me. I released my Reiatsu to change its properties, the air is full of it, and you are covered in it. i made it become a gummy, yet resiliant material, like spiderwebs."

"So, the Fairy Fuck covered me in his sticky goo. A faggot to the last huh? ...You got me, so what now?"

"I use Boyomi, combined with the environment of my Inner World."

"Y-you can't be serious," The Hollow begged.

"Completely." Kyoji took a strange grasp on the tonfa, raising it above his head with the long side pointing skyward. It began to glow at the tip. "I almost never do this move because it takes too long to charge..."

"DON'T DO IT!"

"You don't give the orders now. I do." Kyoji slammed the tip into the ground, "Boyomi! Swallow him!"

The Hollow yelled in fear as the hardened magma beneath him turned into quicksand, sucking him into a sinkhole that opened into the underground lake of lava.

The half-breed monster in the Captain's Hall stopped cold. Howling in defeat, the simian looking creature grasped its head and fell to its knees.

The Captains all kept their guards up as they watched. All except for Ichigo, he returned Zangetsu to its normal state and returned it to his back. "We lucked out old man," he turned towards the Head Captain as he stepped over to his wife Rukia who was nursing a fresh gash on her leg.

"Indeed." The elderly Shinigami looked down at the young man, passed out from mental and physical exhaustion amid a mess of bone-white chunks. "It appeared for a moment that we would have to kill him."


	13. Chapter 13

13

"Onii-chan..." A hazy voice echoed "Onii-chan..."

"Who's there?" The Shinigami's mind was in tatters, he couldn't even connect the voice to anything.

"Onii-chan..."

Kyoji opened his eyes to find himself at the basin of a volcano. The pillars of magmatic rock were crumbling, the cooled and hardened layer of magma was beginning to soften as the superheated rock below it began to rise.

"KYOJI!" A powerful and ancient voice catterwalled "YOU ARE FALLING TO PIECES IN YOUR OWN WORLD! GRASP HOLD OF YOUR SANITY BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!"

"Ky-Ky," The girl's voice echoed more clearly from somewhere above him.

"That's right..." Kyoji began to feel his own body. Movement was painful as he tried to push himself off of the hot, softening rock, "My name is Kyoji... Kyoji Kurohane..."

"Kyoji!" This time, it was a different female voice... It reminded him of soft lips.

"Kyoji Kurohane..." He found the ability to place his knees beneath him as the rocks began to burn his bare skin, "I'm a Shinigami..."

"Kyoji!" The voice of a fallen friend, one who had taught him about what it meant to have a meaningful death.

"A Shinigami of the 9th Squad... An officer... A leader..."

"Kurohane!" The voice of the one he followed with wild red hair. The animal in the form of man, a titan on the battlefield, the one he tried to emulate.

"KYOJI!" The ancient voice bellowed, beginning to sound muffled

"ONII-CHAN!" the first voice called again, clear as day.

"Yuki!" His mind suddenly aware, Kyoji stood as the rock beneath him began to singe the cloth of his shihakushou, he steadied himself. The rock crumbled beneath him as the magma broke ground. He leapt onto the branches of a tar-covered tree, and grasped the trunk for support as if clutching for an old friend.

"Finally," The ancient voice sounded relieved, "I had been attempting to revive you for hours."

"Don't worry Boyomi," The young man looked at the sun above and took a deep breath, prepareing to yell his identity for all to hear.

"KYOJI KUROHANE! 3RD OFFICER! 9TH SQUAD OF THE 13 ROYAL PROTECTION SQUADS!"

"AH!" A cowerdly looking young man jumped, nearly dropping the tray of medical insturments he was carrying.

Kyoji looked to his side, reacting to the sound. He was no longer in the volcano, it was now a stark room. After a moment, he recognized the interior of the 4th Squad's Medical Facility. He saw the 4th Squad-member looking rather shaken next to him, "sorry."

Seeming to snap out of it, the dark-haired medic smiled nervously. He bowed, "that was quite an introduction. I can't compete with it, but I am Hanatarou Yamada, 5th Officer of the 4th Squad."

"Yeah... Nice to meet you."

"You seemed to be having some terrible night-terrors."

"Yeah."

Setting down the tray on the sidetable, Hanatarou sat down on the edge of the bed and gave a gentle smile, "wanna talk about it?"

"Well... I'm sure you already know WHY I'm having them. The whole Seireitei does."

The gentle smile dissapeared and Hanatarou's face darkened significantly, "that business with your sister... I can't imagine how horrible that must be for you."

Yuki's sweet laughter rang in Kyoji's head, "Yuki," Kyoji felt himself on the verge of crying.

"If only the Star Crystal legend was true," Yamada refered to a Rukongai fairy tale, "You could bring her back."

The bedtime stories that Yuki's mother used to tell surfaced from long-forgotten memories: tales of Shinigami, young and old, men and women, driven to the end of their sanity by a terrible act, able to rectify their trechery through the use of a magical crystal. "The Crystal..." the tone in his voice made it obvious that he found his answer.

Momo Hinamori, who'd come to check on her boyfriend, knew the stories just as well. "NO!" She threw open the door as she screamed.

Hanatarou jumped to his feet, nearly tripping as he did.

Momo ran over to Kyoji and dropped to her knees to look him in the eye. "The Crystal is nothing but a myth! Do you have any idea how many people have gone searching for it and never found anything? they came back as raving psychotics from the lengths they drove themselves to just to find it!"

"But-"

"BUT, NOTHING!" The normally shy and quiet girl was in a state of passion. She clutched Kyoji's robe by the collar, "YOU ARE FAR TOO IMPORTANT TO TOO MANY PEOPLE FOR A DAMNED-FOOL'S QUEST WITH NO ACTUAL OBJECT AT THE END OF THE LINE!"

"Vice-Captain!" Hanatarou tried to wrench the girl's grip, "Let him go! He's recovering!"

Hinamori didn't realize just how worked-up she was, and added reiatsu to augment her strength without realizing it as she threw Hanatarou off of her.

The medic realized the potential severity of the situation and ran off, calling out for his Captain at the top of his lungs.

"Momo! This could really be it!" Kyoji ingored the girl's warnings entirely, as if they weren't even said. Kyoji's eyes brightened, "I can bring Yuki back!"

"NO DAMMIT!" Rukia's Vice-Captain shook Kyoji, "YOU AREN'T LISTENING! THERE IS NO DREAM CRYSTAL!"

"If she comes back, then everything will be alright..." Kyoji continued unintelligably as his face became increasingly disconnected from reality.

Fed up, Momo cocked her hand high above her head. She brought it down, ready to smack Kyoji hard enough to bring him back to the real world.

"MOMO!" a stong voice and an equally strong grip caught her by the wrist.

"Renji! let me go!" Momo demanded as she tried to free herself from the Captain's hand.

"Why? Are you trying to kill him?"

Momo gasped and took a real stock of what was going on: she held Kyoji's collar in such a tight grip that he couldn't possibly escape in time to evade the slap with her hand surrounded in concentrated reiastsu. When she saw what she almost did, her body convusled strangely and she made a gaging sound. Momo released Kyoji's collar and covered her mouth.

Captain Renji Abarai released the girl's hand.

Momo breathed slowly and heavily as she looked at the still rambling Kyoji. Suddenly she wailed and dove onto his chest sobbing. Deep down, she suspected that another man she'd fallen in love with was a completely lost cause.

Retsu Unohana, Rukia Kurosaki, and Hanatarou Yamada all showed up at the door at this point.

"Took your time," Renji said without looking up. He put his hand against his forehead, "if I had been any later than I was, We'd be dealing with another accidental murder."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: It's been a while since I've hear alot of these spells, I'm likely to get the spell numbers wrong. But it's not nessicarily incorrect, a spell number is based on the strength of the specific spell, according to the wiki-article I read the other day, it occasionally depends on the power and concentration a Shinigami uses. Which explains why I've seen "Red Flame Cannon" as 31 AND 33... Plus, I added unofficial spells to fill some random holes...

14

Kyoji Stood in front of the entry doors of the 1st Squad's Test Hall. He had recovered from both his physical and his mental injuries. He had passed the knowledge part of the Vice-Captain's exam, but that was not even a question. Now he was to face the skills challenge.

The reason the Vice-Captain's exam was always scheduled in advance was so everyone who wanted to see it could. As the doors opened, Kyoji was assaulted by both cheers of his supporters and the boos those who thought he shouldn't be there. He slowly strode into the arena of the Test Hall.

"Hey," Karin Kurosaki, Vice-Captain of the 13th Squad, turned to her brother, "Ichi-nii."

"What is it?" the Captain of the 3rd Squad asked.

"Why do you support this guy so much? It can't possibly be because you are both those halfsie-things, is it?"

"Hmhmhm," Ichigo chuckled, "try talking to him."

"Not happening," Karin sounded insulted, "Its the same as if you killed Yuzu and acted as if it was nothing."

Ichigo looked towards the 4th squad, looking for Yuzu's blonde hair. Once he spotted it, he waved to his other sister, "you have it completely wrong Karin. He believes he doesn't deserve to live, but he does everything he can to fix his crime."

"Hmmm..."

Once Kyoji had reached the center of the ring, the cheering stopped. The door for the Officals of the match opened, revealing Captain Jyushiro Ukitake, Captain Rukia Kurosaki and Captain Soifon.

The echo of a cane slamming into the ground made its way through the stadium. everyone turned to the Head-Captains box. "Kyoji Kurohane!" The Head-Captain yelled, "Are you prepared for the final stage of the Vice-Captain's Exam?"

"I am."

"Very well! Will the selected Examiners make their way to the arena?"

"Later, Ichi-nii!" Karin smiled right before she FlashStepped onto the arena floor. She landed next to 12th Squad's Nemu Kurotsuchi and the 8th Squad's Nanao Iase.

"The Final Exam will take place in three stages!" Yamamoto explained, "The three Examiners will each pick a subject: Kidou, Swordplay, Movement, or Hand-to-Hand. They will test the potential in this subject until two of the three Officials are convinced they pass or fail adequitely. If they feel he passes, they will raise their right hand, failure is the left... We will begin with Vice-Captain Iase!"

The woman adjusted her glasses, "I had hoped to merely watch this test." Stepping forward, she stretched her arms. "Kurohane, the subject I elect is Kidou! Do you accept?"

"I accept," Kyoji was comfortable with this, he often used Kidou in his attack chains.

"Very well, We will battle using nothing but Kidou... BEGIN!"

"Hadou 4!" Kyoji began moving his right foot quickly in the sand, "White Lightning!"

Nanao leaned to her left to dodge, "Bakudou 6! Crawling Rope!" A glowing gold energy wrapped around Kyoji's extended arm.

Kyoji flattened his hand and began stepping forward, "Hadou 16! Starlight Blade!" Kyoji hacked at the rope with a white edged spell

"HADOU 31! RED FLAME CANNON!"

"HADOU-BAKUDOU COMBO 7! RESTRAINING SAPPHIRE CRASH!"

The blue flames from Kyoji's hands crushed the red ones from the Vice-Captain's hands. The impact of the blast blew her off of her feet and several feet away.

Nanao struggled to her feet and broke the spell holding her hands together by force of will. She faced Kyoji who stood in a strange stance.

All three officials recognized the stance, and quickly examined the trail that Kyoji had left in the sand, knowing a life likely hung in the balence.

"Victory is mine!" Kyoji claimed as he twisted his ankle, completeing the final character in the incantaion he'd written out in the sand.

Nanao finally noticed that the leg wasn't just a nervous tick like she'd thought, "NO!"

"HADOU 97! BLA-"

"PASS!" The Head-Captain's voice was enough to be heard over the expressions of the crowd as they realized what was actually happening in the arena below them. "All three Officials unanimously agree that Kyoji Kurohane's Kidou skills are above the minimum level for a Vice-Captain!"

Some members of the crowd didn't seem to understand.

"Everyone look at the trail in the sand! He wasn't merely kicking his leg around! Not only did he write out an incantation, but he did it upside down so it would read out properly to the direction he was facing! Second Examiner! Vice-Captain Kurosaki!"

The girl grinned. Even though it was against most of her principles to dispense her own justice, it involved family; which to her was far holier than duty. "I Choose Swordplay!" It was a decision with two reasons, it was unquestionably essential to a Shinigami, and it was her forte.

"I accept!" Kyoji drew his sword

"BEGIN!" Karin held her weapon's tips against her fingertips over her head

Ichigo knew the stance well, "SHE CAN'T POSSIBLY-"

Yuzu recognized the move, "NO! KARIN!"

Jyushiro Ukitaki knew that there was at the very least a massive scolding in store for his Vice-Captain.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Her sword name is supposed to mean "Heart (Shinzo) [of the] (No) Earth (Daichi)", hence, 'Daichi No Shinzo'

15

Karin released a large amount of energy as she released her Zanpakutou, "WORLDLY JUDGES! DAICHI NO SHINZO!"

Kyoji realized he was in for a world of hurt when the girl's weapon turned into a pair of medicine-balls connected by a massively long chain.

Karin spun a ball on either side of her body, allowing the chain to sit coiled in a pile on the ground at her feet. "You may be allowed to take this test," Karin said with gritted teeth, "but I whole-heartedly disagree with it! I will make sure you don't get to finish this test! EVEN IF I WILL GET IN A HEAP OF TROUBLE, YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

As Karin tossed up both of the weights, Kyoji flipped his sword. "CRACKING BONE!"

"TOO LATE!" Karin said as she leapt into the air and scissor-kicked both weights.

Kyoji turned his body, "BOYOMI!"

Karin snatched the chains and gave a whipping motion to the right side.

One of the medicine-balls impacted the tonfa just as it finished forming, driving Kyoji backwards almost fifteen yards from the power behind it. Karin Kuroski was known as one of the strongest offense-type Shinigami in the Seireitei, having proven that she has enough power to hurt even Captain Zaraki.

Kyoji's vision snapped up to the other weight, which had completely changed it's flight-path because of the motion the girl applied to the chains.

"Try to track my attacks if you can!"

"HA!" Renji laughed from two rows behind Ichigo who was fretting over his sister's actions.

"What the hell's so funny!" Ichigo demanded

"Think about who's been Kurohane's sparring partner for the past month. Then you'll see why I laughed at your sister's arrogance!"

Kyoji grinned as he spotted a simple trick he'd seen so many times. He leapt left as the balls changed direction again, slamming where he'd just been.

"What?" Karin didn't believe it

Kyoji FlashStepped up to the girl and cracked her across the knee.

Karin gave a yelp of pain.

"Hisagi used to fight the same way, Kyoji whispered in the dark-haired girl's ear, "but he was much faster... You know something? In the 9th, we understand something... Your own power is your own weakness."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Karin yanked both chains

Kyoji spotted the attack coming and rolled so he was back to back with the younger Shinigami. "It means that if you are confident, be confident that you know your weaknesses, not your strengths!" Kyoji grabbed Boyomi by the tip of the long side and used the handle as a hook. He yanked hard on one of the chains, causing it to fly directly for him. He flipped over Karin, looking her in the eye. Preparing a healing Kidou as he said, "you lose."

Karin's eyes bugged out and blood shot from her mouth as the attack slammed her to the ground. She garggled out a scream of pain as she began bleeding from her ears, nose and eyes.

Kyoji was healing her body as best he could as soon as the attack hit her. He synced their reiatsu frequencies as best he could and poured his own life-force into her body.

"KARIN!" Ichigo yelled as Renji held him back

"NEE-CHAN!" Yuzu screamed as she preformed her first ever FlashStep to help her twin sister, knocking down everyone in the way.

Yuzu was tearing-up as she and Kyoji both tried to heal the grevious impact wounds. "Don't die!"

"Y-you..re such a cr-ybaby," Karin teased her sister as she bled out through internal wounds.

"Let me take care of this," a gentle voice offered.

Yuzu didn't even stop healing long enough to look at who was speaking, "C-C-C-Capt-tain!" She sobbed, "Ple-ease! Save Karin!"

Retsu Unohana placed a warm hand on the shoulders of both Yuzu and Kyoji, "stand back."

Doing as they were told, they were nearly blinded by the release of light from a powerful healing spell.

After a moment, the light stopped. Turning Unohana smiled, "you two did an excellent job. You especially Kyoji." Her smiled sweetened as she closed her eyes and cocked her head slightly, "She'd have died on impact if not for you. Have you ever thought about switching to the 4th Squad?"

"N-no Ma'am," Kyoji hadn't ever expected that question, he thought he sucked at healing.

With the chaos of the moment having passed, Yamamoto looked to the Officials for their decision. "FAIL!"

Kyoji heard the word and snapped his entire body to face the Officials, Rukia was the only one raising her right hand. "WHAT?"

"Judges! Explain your decision!"

Soifon started, "While you won the fight, you did so using primarily movement and agility as opposed to swordplay."

"I'm sorry, Kyoji." Ukitake shrugged, "She's right. You won by moving."

"I disagree," Rukia explained herself, "he demonstrated both strong defensive and defensive capabilities. His defense was demonstrated by effectively blocking an attack that has proven powerful enough to bruise Kenpachi Zaraki. And his offense was shown in the precision needed to control an opponents weapon using his own."

"After hearing your collegues, do any of you wish to change your decision?"

None of them changed, although Ukitake took a moment to consider the valor of Rukia's arguement.

"So be it! One passing grade, one failing! In order to pass the Exam, you must pass the final Examiner, do you understand?"

"I do," Kyoji gritted his teeth enraged by the last decision.

Kyoji was exhausted from both the fight and pouring himself into healing Karin as Vice-Captain Kurotsuchi stepped in front of him, "Mayuri-Sama has instructed me to kill you within the context of the test. He hasn't ever had the chance to run tests on a freshly-dead Vizard. I will make you use that mask."

Kyoji tensed, "oh fuck my life!" he thought. "Now that psycho has it out for me."

"Hand-to-hand, is my forte," Nemu began to vibrate her hands so fast it cause the air to fill with the sound of a drill, "it will be your test."

"I officailly request an Examiner that doesn't want me dead!"

"BEGIN!"


	16. Chapter 16

16

Without allowing Kyoji enough time to sheath his weapon, let alone seal it back to blade-from, Nemu Kurotuchi rushed him. She swung her arm to slash his throat.

He brought it up to block the strike. The movement of Nemu's hand caused vibrations to travel throughout Kyoji's body. He felt numb as the second attack was a straight-hand thrust aimed at his stomach.

Nemu huffed when her strike was blocked. Kurohane and grabbed her arm above the rapid movements, just below her elbow. She found herself lifted off the ground as the young man shifted his weight and sent her flying.

Nemu landed nimbly on her feet, "it seems I underestimated you."

Kyoji leapt back as the woman FlashStepped under his guard and attacked his stomach. Kyoji felt the ripping contact barely brush him, but the blood rushed from his abdomin. he back-pedaled heavily as he used a Kidou spell to concentrate what remained of his body's healing energies on the wound spilling his life onto the ground.

Kurotsuchi didn't miss a step, she stayed right in Kyoji's face. Swunging rapidly as the boy threw his weight in order to dodge. Suddenly, he changed, grabbing both her arms.

"Gotcha!" Firing a brutal front-kick, Kyoji let her go long enough sweep her legs. Flipping on his hands, the young Shinigami unleashed a powerful smash-kick.

Nemu rolled away as the kick shattered the ground where her head had just been. "He is trying to destroy me as well... but if that is the case, why doesn't he use the mask?" Nemu kicked Kyoji in the forehead, using the heel on her boot as the contact point.

The concentrated power of the strike shattered Kyoji's forehead, causing blood to trickle down from his brow. Colored lights blinded Kyoji as the impact knocked him silly. Acting in instinct alone, Kyoji dodged to the right. He screamed as his left tricep was torn asunder.

"Left arm," Nemu said analyticaly, "disabled. Fourty-six seconds until bleed-out."

"Fuck..." Kyoji's vision came back into sharp relief. He looked at the wound, gushing blood like a river. He used the last of his reiatsu to form a variant of a common spell, "Hadou 31... Red Flame Cannon..." A small orb of fire formed in his hand.

Much of the crowd turned away as Kyoji began yelling his pain from cauterizing his wound.

"I really don't have much choice..." He mimicked the motion he'd seen only once when Capatin Kurosaki summoned his own mask. He began sprinting at Nemu as he brought his hand up to the corner of his forehead.

Nemu tensed, ready for the change in speed and power that came with the transformation.

Kyoji saw his farce worked and leapt at the woman, feet first.

Nemu saw too late that it was a trick, Kyoji's feet knocked her arms away, and scissored her head with his legs.

Kyoji kicked his legs down, using the momentum to throw Nemu to the ground, him attached. He put his fist against her forehead, and let physics do the rest.

Vice-Captain Nemu Kurotsuchi gave a crushed scream as she hit the ground. Kyoji's body impacted on her chest, and his fist on her forehead. The damage incapacitated her. "W-hy?... You could... have u-sed the mask..." She asked through pained gasps as she fought for conciousness.

Captain Kurotsuchi appeared in the seats directly behind them. "NEMU YOU HALF-WITTED USELESS EXCUSE FOR A SHINIGAMI!" he yelled at her over the noise of the crowd reacting to all three Officials passing the preformance, "I GAVE YOU A SIMPLE ORDER! KILL HIM! AND YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT?"

"M-my... deepest ap-ologies... Mi-yu..ri-Sama..."

"I DON'T WANT YOUR APOLOGIES! I WAN-"

Kyoji interupted the man with a flagrant gesture, "Fuck off asshole!"

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Suddenly both the Captain of the 12th and the Captain of the 9th stood in front of him, facing each other, both with hands on the hilt of their swords. "Is there a problem, Captain Kurotsuchi?"

"YOUR CHEATING BASTARD DARES TO SHOW ME DISRESPECT WHEN I AM SCOLDING A SUBORDINATE WHO FAILED A GIVEN MISSION!"

"An illegal mission I do believe."

"That is of no consiquence to the matter! Insubordination is a very serious offense!"

"Shut up you psychotic dog-fucker!" Kyoji had heard enough.

Kurotsuchi wouldn't stand for any more. He began to draw his sword, but nearly all of the other Captains and several Vice-Captains appeared around him as they FlashStepped into the arena. Even Momo stood directly between the Captain and his prey.

Head Captain Yamamoto slammed his cane into the ground, "END THIS NOW!"

The force of the voice changed the situation from "don't kill him" to "don't kill me" in the minds of almost everyone present.

"I WILL NOT ALLOW IN-FIGHTING AMONG THE 13 ROYAL PROTECTION SQUADS! Now..." even though he dropped the volume, his tone was no less imposing, "Everyone return to your seats."

Once the crowd disappeared from between them, Kyoji strode over and knelt next to Nemu. He put a hand on her shoulder and spoke to her as she began to black-out, "I didn't use it because I can't. I don't know how to summon it."

"I see."

"PASS!" Yamamoto finally announced. He hit the ground again with his cane, "Kyoji Kurohane has passed the Vice-Captain's Exam!"

The Crowd mostly seemed to change their opinion, having decided that anyone who insults Captain Kurotsuchi to his face deserved their respect. The place erupted in cheers.


	17. Chapter 17

17

Kyoji shifted the Vice-Captains' Badge on his arm, still convinced it wasn't straight after several previous adjustments.

"It's fine," Renji assured him, as they stood in front of the door to the main hall of the 9th Squad's Barracks.

"Captain..." Kyoji sounded timid.

"Eh?"

"Do you think they'll really accept me?... I mean... they were all there when... It happened..."

Crossing his arms, Captain Abarai made a face with an inidentifiable emotion.

"What is it?"

"If anybody gives you trouble, you just send them my way."

"Thanks, but if it's all the same, I want to earn there respect by my own actions."

Grinning widely, Renji gave his new Vice-Captain a solid pat on the back, "you'll do just fine!" With that, he threw open the door, revealing the entire 9th Squad standing in ranks. "Everyone! I want you all to meet your new Vice-Captain!"

Kyoji stepped into the room and bowed, "I am Kyoji Kurohane," he felt silly introducing himself to his own squad. "I know that we will work well together!"

Nobody responded.

Kyoji changed his stance slightly, getting the feeling that he was about to be attacked.

"Tell us!" A voice came from the back, "Tell us why we should follow someone who not only killed his sister! But also contains a Hollow within him!"

"Hey!" Abarai began to yell at the Shinigami, but stopped when Kyoji held out his arm. "Kurohane?"

"First you tell me something," Kyoji walked right up to the first rank, then turned and began pacing up and down the formation as if inspecting them. After a minute, he continued, "why did you follow me before this whole mess began?"

"We trusted you."

"Okay, I can see how that would be hard now. There was a while i doubted myself. Is that the only reason?"

"You were strong," someone else answered.

"I'm sure you saw yesterday that hasn't changed."

"You were kind," still another voiced.

"I haven't lost that at all," Kyoji held up his right hand, since even with the healing spell his left arm still wasn't fully healed. "Karin Kurosaki was actually trying to kill me, or at the very least permanently disable me... and yet, by my own hands, she still lives. Captain Unohana herself said that she wouldn't have survived the impact if not for me healing her."

"You weren't a monster!" One of the squad-members stepped out of line and strode up Kyoji. "Only a beast could cut down their own family! And your mask is proof enough!"

A few grunts of approval were heard from the Shinigami in the ranks.

Kyoji looked at his own feet, "my mask and my dark-half were not things I asked for."

"That doesn'-"

"Be that as it may," Kyoji's voice was forceful as he cut off the man to continue, "I have taken steps to prevent tragedies like Yuki from ever happening again."

"But the fact stands that it DID happen," it seemed that this man was trying to get Kyoji to break.

"A fact that I must live with. I LOVE Yuki. She's my sister... Have you ever lost a loved one?"

"Who here hasn't?" the Shinigami sounded insulted. "You are far from the only one here to have lost someone!"

"Have you ever had to watch them die by your own hand while you could do nothing to stop it?"

"NO!"

"Then you have no idea what REAL grief is!" Kyoji's scream caused the man to step back. After a few deep breaths, Kyoji steadied himself.

"However you put it, there is a monster inside you!"

"Did I ever deny it? The only reason I'm alive right now is because I learned to supress the darkness on my own." Changing his tone from explaination to solemn vow, Kyoji continued, "If he can teach me, I will have Captain Kurosaki teach me to wield it... If he can't, I will make it obey my will one way or another. I won't allow my Yin to destroy innocent lives ever again."

The sudden change in Kyoji Kurohane shocked everyone, even his Captain.

Suddenly feeling his own strength, Kyoji straightened himself. He stood like one would expect a Vice-Captain to, proud and confident. "Anything else?" He demanded from the man who had been accusing him.

"No... Sir."

"Then step back in line," he flicked his head towards the spot the Shinigami had left to get in his face.

"Yessir."

"Anyone else?" Kyoji challenged as he surveyed the room. Satisfied that his first foray into the world of a Vice-Captain had ended successfully, Kyoji took his place beside his Captain.

Captain Renji Abarai gave a wild grin as he surveyed his new right-hand. "Right!" He turned to the rest of the squad, "Dismissed!"


End file.
